Public
Library Signs New Temporary Lease At Shopping Center; Monthly
Rent Is Raised

By Laura
Goldblatt

With its initial lease expiring on December
31, 2003, the Princeton Public Library board of trustees approved
a new agreement on August 19 that will allow the library to
remain at its temporary location until April 2004, though the
monthly rent will be increased from $6,300 to $19, 500 per month.

According
to Library Director Leslie Burger, the original lease was being subsidized
by the primary leaseholders, the Rite Aid Corporation. Though
its lease ended in December 2002, the Princeton Shopping Center
agreed to maintain the library's lease at the same rate
until December of this year.

Ms. Burger stated that the
original lease stipulated that lease extensions could be made
at market value in three-month increments. But the library board
was able to negotiate with the shopping center to alter the agreement to
consist of extensions in four-month increments based upon the
expectation that the new library is on schedule to be ready
in April, 2004.

"We're exercising our right to
renew on a short-term basis," said Harry Levine, the president
of the library's board of trustees.

In addition, shopping
center owners George Comfort & Sons agreed to make a $17,800
contribution to the library if it vacated the current temporary residence
by April 30, 2004. "I've got nothing but good things
to say about working with the shopping center," Mr. Levine
said.

When it is completed, the new downtown library will
contain 55,000 square feet spread over three floors. It will
be twice as large as the old library, and nearly three times
as large as the current, temporary library. The new building
will be transparent, with energy-efficient glass that will allow pedestrians
walking by the library to look in, and those inside to see out.

On
the first floor, patrons will find the fiction collection, videos,
DVDs, audiobooks, CDs, computers with high-speed internet access,
a café, a meeting room, a library store, a welcome desk,
a reader services desk, and a community living room. The lending
services desk, equipped with new express checkout machines
to make borrowing materials faster and easier, will also be
located on this floor.

The second floor will be dedicated
to quiet study and will hold the nonfiction, biography and
reference collections, as well as a catalog of newspapers and
magazines and the Princeton Collection. In order to facilitate
study groups, there will be three group study rooms, a large conference
room, a reading room, and a room outfitted with digital technology.

Dedicated
to children, the third floor will feature accommodations for those of
shorter stature and separate age-specific sections for preschoolers, grade
school children, and teens. Princeton Borough has agreed to
reserve 85 spaces in its new 500-car parking garage for the
use of library patrons only. Cardholders can park free for up to
two hours when they visit the library. In addition, there will
be a secondary entrance for drop-offs and book returns.
Recently, there has been a movement to maintain a branch
library at the Princeton Shopping Center after the new library
is completed. Those who support the initiative note that for
many, the shopping center location is more convenient and that
parking will continue to be a problem despite the new garage.
They also point out that although the temporary library location is
crowded, it has been more popular than ever.

The number
of patrons visiting the library has increased 25 percent since the
move, and the number of people checking out books has been rising
five to six percent a year.

There is currently a movement
underway to recruit what remains of the 995 necessary signatures
of registered voters in Princeton Township in order to file
a petition to keep a branch library at the shopping center. Even
if that number is met, there is no guarantee that the question
will go to ballot because under New Jersey statute, the Township
Committee isn't required to have a referendum based upon
a petition of voters.

The raise in rent will neither
hinder nor help considerations of maintaining a branch library
at the Princeton Shopping Center, said Ms. Burger. The market
value rent of approximately $20,000 was considered in the initial
calculations, and thus the most recent increase in rent poses
no surprises. She stressed that she feels that discussions
of a library branch are premature.

Mr. Levine explained
that the new library was intended to be Princeton's sole library
and the plans for it are designed as such.

"We need
to get settled in the new library and see whether parking and accessibility
are a problem before we make any final decisions," Ms. Burger said.

Mr.
Levine agreed. "As far as I'm concerned and the board
of trustees is concerned, our primary concern is moving into
our new 55,000-square-foot downtown library. If the physical
structure is inadequate, we will consider other options to
supplement the building. We'd like to see how the community uses
the brand-new building before making any decisions."